Chelsea and Manchester United are contenders, Real Madrid are still the team to beat and Bayern Munich are terrible… seven things we learnt from this week’s Champions League action
From British football's unbeaten week to some European giants surprisingly struggling, check out all the main talking points
THE second round of this season's Champions League group games are now in the book... and there's plenty of hot talking points.
From an unblemished week for British football, to the surprising demise of certain European giants, there's plenty to talk over.
Tuesday's games saw Liverpool draw in Russia, Manchester City comfortably beat Shakhtar Donetsk and Tottenham thump APOEL in Cyprus.
On top of that, Monaco were battered at home to Porto and Real Madrid made some history in Dortmund.
Wednesday saw Manchester United stick four past CSKA Moscow, Chelsea saw a last-minute goal sink Atletico Madrid, while Celtic were surprising 3-0 winners.
Here's the seven biggest talking points from all of this week's Champions League action...
latest football features
1. REAL-LY GOOD
STARTING with the obvious, it's already clearly apparent Real Madrid are the team to beat once again.
Having won the Champions League three times in the last four years - and a record-setting last two in a row - Los Blancos once again look strong.
They headed to Germany to take on Borussia Dortmund at the Westfalenstadion - a ground in which they'd never won... and stormed to a 3-1 victory.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 69th double in his 400th game for the Galacticos as the La Liga giants go in search of an historic hat-trick.
2. CONT FIGHT THIS FEELING
SPEAKING of challengers, don't look too far beyond Chelsea.
Having brutally dismembered minnows Qarabag in the first game, they faced a much sterner test in heading away to Atletico Madrid.
It's fair to say they put in a champions-worthy performance as they battled from 1-0 down at the break, thanks to an Antoine Griezmann strike.
Alvaro Morata scored on the hour-mark before a 94th-minute winner from substitute Michy Batshuayi left Diego Costa looking sheepish in the stands.
Their ability to bury the smaller teams and grind past the big boys could see them go deep in this year's competition.
3. MAKE MINE A DOUBLE
HEADING north to Manchester, both City and United put in impressive shifts this week.
Pep Guardiola's men got the week off to a flyer as they comfortably beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0, before Jose Mourinho saw his side put four past CSKA Moscow, in Russia.
With both Manchester clubs looking imperious domestically and impressive on the Continent, could one of the sides make it a superb Double this season?
As both sides are keeping it tight at the back, while firing in the goals for fun... why not?
4. STRIKE IT (UN)LUCKY
LIVERPOOL went into this season full of hope, full of expectations...
However, already one thing is apparent: The Reds have no chance of winning any silverware with this current squad.
Brutal as it may sound, it's impossible to see Jurgen Klopp's men with a trophy in hand while their defence - and attack - look this way.
The story of the season for Liverpool so far has been that their defence is still nowhere near the required standard, not in the Premier League nor in the Champions League.
On top of that, the Reds have dominated almost every match they've played this season, unleashing, 20, 30 shots per game and STILL only scored once.
It was the same old story in Russia this week as they stumbled to a disappointing 1-1 draw.
Liverpool need two or three world-class defenders and one lethal finisher... pair them with their astonishing attacking midfield then, and only then, can they truly compete.
5. TOTT OF GOLD
BACK to more positive matters, Tottenham have looked good so far in Europe this season.
Following the 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund - to "break the Wembley hoodoo" - Spurs won 3-0 away to Cypriot minnow APOEL.
While a win was expected, the manner of the win was encouraging, with Harry Kane scoring a "perfect" hat-trick.
So long as the England man keeps up his scintillating September form and Mauricio Pochettino's side can keep things going at Wembley, they look dead-certs to reach the last-16.
Then again, they still have two matches against Real Madrid to come...
6. BAY BAY, BAYERN
BAYERN MUNICH are having a simply dreadful season... at least, by their high standards.
Carlo Ancelotti's job is now on the line, as they sit just third in the Bundesliga, while getting hammered 3-0 at the hands of PSG on Wednesday.
Following the game, even star winger Arjen Robben didn't defend his boss.
Having been asked if he would back the Italian, Robben claimed: "I will not answer that. It was a painful defeat, we can talk about this."
Meanwhile, PSG keep taking steps in the right direction in terms of ultimately winning the Champions League.
The manner of the win would be hugely encouraging for Les Parisiens.
But with goals for Edinson Cavani and Neymar, as well as a man of the match performance from Kylian Mbappe, things are looking good for the Ligue 1 giants.
7. BRIT OF ALRIGHT
ALL in all, it was a fairly strong week for Britain's six-strong contingent in the 2017-18 Champions League.
Five wins and just the one draw bodes very well for the Premier League quintet and Celtic.
The omen going into the season looked good too.
The last time Britain had six participants in Europe's elite competition, two of them - Chelsea and United - played out a thrilling final in Moscow.
Sir Alex Ferguson's men won on penalties that year... but a Brit twosome in this year's showdown would be a long overdue return to prominence for English football.
Check out seven things we learnt from this weekend's Premier League, including Man United and City's dominance, as well as Alvaro Morata's early claim for Chelsea legend status.
Which Premier League striker has had the best start to the 2017-18 season? Find out here...
Did you know Harry Kane is the ONLY English player in the world's top 55? Check out the full list of stars now...